A man was injured in a shooting late Wednesday that Irwin police believe was an accident, according to court papers.
He was shot in the face but is expected to survive, according to borough police and Melanie Jones, spokesperson for the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.
A Greensburg man was arrested in connection with the shooting. Jason Powell, 23, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment. Bail was set at $100,000 Thursday.
Borough police and Westmoreland County detectives said in court papers that a group of people were inside an apartment at 11:30 p.m. at the Villages of Easton on Sweetbriar Drive, just off Route 30. Irwin Police Chief Daniel Wensel said there was alcohol involved.
“Drinking and firearms don’t really mix,” he said in an interview with Trib news partner WTAE. “The other people that were there had nothing to do with it other than, unfortunately, being a witness to a tragic event.”
Witnesses told investigators Powell had a handgun out of its holster and displayed it to the man who was shot.
The wounded man was taken by a witness to AHN Hempfield and later flown by medical helicopter to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, police said.
Powell fled the apartment and was apprehended by state police in Somerset County just outside Rockwood, about 45 miles from Irwin, after Irwin police issued an alert for police to be on the lookout for him. Jones said he was taken into custody two hours later.
Wensel encouraged owners of firearms to be responsible when handling their guns. He called the shooting an isolated incident.
Powell did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 23. He was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison.